


Rescued in a Tavern

by Six_Lily_Petals



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Fluff, Inspiration, Language, Pride, Strength
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-23
Updated: 2016-01-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 19:48:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5797525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Six_Lily_Petals/pseuds/Six_Lily_Petals
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krem has heard Iron Bull's stories a million times.  It's only when Bull doesn't know he's listening that Krem hears a new version of that night they met in a tavern in Tevinter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rescued in a Tavern

**Author's Note:**

> I added a bit of a twist on the prompt of father/son relationship. I hope it satisfies.
> 
> Many thanks to [pixievhenan](http://archiveofourown.org/users/pixievhenan/pseuds/pixievhenan) for being my sweet beta!

Krem never really knew the Inquisitor personally.  He’d rarely done missions with her and when they spoke it was always general stuff.  Nothing ever personal.  Yet, she always had this _look_ when she saw him.  The closer she got to the Chief, the more frequently it happened. 

She never said anything, she would simply bat her eyes and give him a small half smile.  He’d had the tavern girls hit on him in a similar way, but he knew Lavellan was dedicated to Bull.  It didn’t make sense.  At first he brushed it off.  With all the work that the Chargers were doing for the Inquisition, and how frequently she was out saving the blighted world, he barely saw her. 

After Corypheus was defeated however, the Chargers spent more time at Skyhold.  Bull had even moved into her quarters permanently.  Every time she saw him, her face lit up.  It wasn’t the worst thing a person could do to another but it was fucking confusing.  He’d certainly endured worse.

One day, he couldn’t take it anymore.  The Inquisitor walked through the tavern, having come from the upper floor and she did it again, that smile before walking out the door.  Krem rose and chased after her.

“Your Worship!”

“Cremisius.  How are you?”  She smiled brighter, and stopped as if she hadn’t a care in the world other than to speak with him.  Not knowing what caused it, made the gesture unnerving.

“I need to ask you something personal.”  Running the question through his head sounded ridiculous at the time but he was committed and couldn’t back out now.  “I’ve noticed the way you look at me…that-that grin you do…I don’t…it’s…confusing.”

She was lovely and delicate, soft ringlets of hair framed her bronze face.  Sort of hard to believe this creature of the forest took down the ancient Magister.  If he hadn’t seen her in battle, he’d probably never believe it himself.  She tilted her head and gazed at him with her wide elven eyes. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was being so obvious, nor making you uncomfortable.  I will stop if you wish.”

“No, yes…but.”  Krem huffed in frustration.  “I just want to know why.  You seem to have purpose behind it, otherwise you wouldn’t do it.”

She considered him again.  Krem began to feel hot in his armor.  “You really don’t know do you?”  Her light giggle floated around him like a butterfly.  “At ten bells, find yourself in the gardens, near the gazebo.  Don’t let yourself be seen.”

A single wink and then she was gone.  Dalish was able to do the same thing, simply skirt off at breakneck speed but having it seem as though she merely skipped away leisurely. 

 

Krem pulled his dark, hooded cloak closer around his shoulders.  As many years as he’d spent in Orlais, his Tevinter blood refused to acclimate to the chill.  He’d heard the tenth bell sound a quarter hour ago and there was no sign of Lavellan.  He was ready to give up, thinking she had spent too much time with the Chief and somehow found this amusing when he heard voices.  He pressed himself further back into the shadows and waited as they grew louder.

“…I tell you what, that was the worst job we had ever taken on.  There’s a reason we take payments upfront.”  Bull let out a disgusted noise.  “I can still _taste_ the smell of that place.”

Krem could see them in the twilight now, Lavellan hanging off Bull’s arm in adoration as he retold another of his stories.  Man, the big bastard loved to talk.  Lavellan stepped ahead of Bull to lead him to the benches under the gazebo.  Bull sat with his back against a column, feet propped up, while the Inquisitor sat in his lap and curled into his chest.

“Tell me the one where you first met Krem.”

“Kadaaaan.  I’ve told you that one a hundred times.”

“But it’s my favorite.  Please?”

Bull huffed out a pleased scoff.  “Yeah, yeah.  It’s my favorite too.”

“So, there I am in this shithole of a Tavern on the border of Tevinter.  I’d just split from Fisher’s Bleeders with only a few weeks earlier.  My new band was having trouble finding work, so we figured we could hedge our bets by hanging around the border, possibly pick up on feuding noble crap.  Easy work since we were thin on numbers and coin.

“The rest of my guys were combing the streets, looking for leads.  I chose the tavern since that’s usually where nobles will go to hire folks.  You know, pulling some shit they read in a book once.  Throw on a hooded cape, walk in and ask the bartender if he knows _people_.  Typical shit you see out of an easy mark.  They’re really easy to overcharge.  That night, as I kept an eye out for them I saw many people trying to hide who they were.

A merchant trying to pass off as a servant to avoid paying the barkeep too much.

A noble trying to pass off as a merchant as he met with someone who was _not_ his wife.

Then there was this guy at the bar, alone.  You could tell by his stature he wasn’t trying to disguise himself.  He was trying to hide from someone, not as someone else.  It wasn’t more than an hour later when a Tribune and his worthless little shits walk through the door.  I was amazed they didn’t step on each other’s dicks they were so disorganized.

Anyway, so they gang up on the loner at the bar.  Eight to one.  He never flinched.  He didn’t run.  Judging from the way they were yelling at the guy, I knew this was just a bunch of pricks using a flimsy excuse to butcher someone.

I gave him the chance to take them on, see what he could do.  Impressive, damn impressive considering he wore no armor and a shitty ass blade.  As soon as they had him knocked to floor and he didn’t get back up like he had the other six times, I yelled at the fucks to stop.  That shit of a Tribune didn’t like the look of me as I made my way across the tavern and pulled out a flail to finish the job.  The only thing I could do was rush ‘em.  I felt the blow to my head but didn’t realize how bad it was until later.

I had the Tribune knocked down and took on the rest of the other bastards.  They’d never seen a Qunari before and didn’t know how to take me on.  Krem had already softened them up, so killing them off was as easy as picking daisies. 

I took Krem up to one of the rooms we were renting.  I’ll never forget that moment.  He had a fire in him, Kadan.  He was unapologetic, stood on his feet to face me, a firm line set by his lips.  I’ve seen healthy bastards who couldn’t have stood so tall, much less one who’d just had the shit beat out ‘em. 

“We were in a deadlock.  Think about this from his perspective: Here he is, this cornered, weakened warrior who’s facing an unknown, brawny, intimidating, ripped, seductive…”

At the last word, Lavellan pinched Bull’s nipple with a twist.  “Lummox!”

“Ow! Hey!  I’m just stating the facts, Kadan.  You can’t blame me for being this impressive.  It takes hard work and it’s important for the story!”

Lavellan laughed and Krem couldn’t help but laugh to himself as well.  Chief, he’s always like that.  Ass.

“Anyway, so think about it.  I’ve got blood gushing from my face, even with the rag held up to it and this Vinty ex-soldier looks up at me and was ready to take me on if need be.  I’d just killed nine people right before his eyes, and still, he didn’t shy away.

“That’s when I knew.  He would have let those fuckers kill him.  He wouldn’t back down, he wouldn’t submit.  He’d always continue to fight, just as he was ready to when I approached him.  He would have kept going on sheer will alone. 

“I’ve fought dragons Kadan. Ogres, darkspawn, demons, but that night.  Damn.  That night I saw something stronger than all those freakish bastards living behind his eyes kadan.  That’s when I knew I found something better than a job.  I took him on as a regular hired sword, but soon promoted him when the rest of the guys warmed up to him.

“For years I tried to be two things, The Iron Bull – Hissrad.  Tried to make both worlds mesh and somehow make sense, but I knew deep down I couldn’t live that lie forever.  Krem always knew exactly who he was and knew he didn’t owe the world shit.  He fucking spit in the eye of Tevinter tradition with no regret.  I always envied him that. 

“I didn’t fully understand that power, that strength until that day I blew the deal with the Qunari on the Storm Coast.  I knew my boys would die for the Inquisition, but I couldn’t help thinking that Krem wouldn’t be proud of what that would make me.” 

Bull hugged Lavellan close in his arms, pressing his cheek to the top of her head.  “If I hadn’t called them back, I wouldn’t have you or them.  I’d be nothing but an empty shell, a tool for the Qun.  I will always be grateful to him for that.”

“Have you ever told Krem?”

“Nah.  Besides, that’s not the kind of shit mercenaries talk about.  Maybe one day I’ll do it all dramatic like on my deathbed.  Yeah, Varric would approve of that.”

“Well, Krem’s a smart guy,” Lavellan peered over to Krem’s hiding spot.  “I’m sure he has some idea.”

Krem was shocked, he couldn’t move, couldn’t think.  All this time Bull had been his rock, his center when life fell to shit.  How could this goliath even think to view _him_ as a source of strength? 

Lavellan smiled at him in the muted light of the moon as she silently mouthed, “That is why.  Thank you.”

Taking advantage of the pair’s sudden interest in sucking on each other’s face, Krem slowly made his way out of the gardens.  His trip back to the tavern had his head reeling at the revelation.  When he took up his usual seat, he watched the patrons coming and going, eating and drinking.  Krem had thought of himself as many things in his life. Important, however was not one of them. Yet as he sat there nursing his mead, for the first time in his admittedly eventful life, he felt even more important than the Inquisitor herself.


End file.
